Dental Health Topics

A bridge is a form of dental prosthetic that allows for the placement of an artificial tooth in an area where a healthy tooth used to exist.

When an entire tooth is lost, a bridge acts as a unifying device that supports the artificial tooth (called a pontic), eliminating the gap between adjacent teeth.

To accomplish this, the pontic needs to be joined to these adjacent teeth in order to stay in place. This is done through the use of either an inlay or onlay.

Inlays and onlays are tooth-colored fillings made in a lab. When used as support for a bridge, they act as connecting anchors for the artificial tooth.

An onlay is used when support is needed along a "cusp" (the raised points on the biting surface), whereas an inlay is used when support is required between these cusps.

To visualize how the function of these fillings change when used as an abutment for a bridge, it might help to think of them as the raised pins on upside-down version of a Lego® block – they help to keep the bridge secure once cemented to your healthy teeth.

With this dental procedure code, an onlay is made from high noble metal, and placed on twp of those surfaces.

An onlay that includes high noble metal is composed of at least 60% gold, platinum, palladium, and silver. Of that 60%, at least 40% needs to be gold in order to earn this distinction from the American Dental Association.

Noble metals are known to interact with human tissue well, holding up to corrosion and oxidation better than other metals.

The higher the percentage of noble metals, the less likely an onlay is to corrode or oxidize.

To prepare for a two-surface bridge onlay, a dentist will first remove the portion of your healthy tooth to act as an abutment.

Then, depending on the process used by your dentist, either a physical impression of the tooth will be made, or 3D imaging will be used to render a digital impression.

Next, your dentist will likely fit you with a temporary onlay until your bridge completed.

Once the bridge with its extending onlay is ready for installation, it will be laid into the excavated area of the tooth and bonded, or cemented (luted), in place.